Morgan Freeman argued Thursday that the unrest in Baltimore is spurred by “the terrorism we suffer from the police” and questioned why so many black people are dying at the hands of white officers.

The Academy Award-winning actor was interviewed by Newsweek to promote his new film with Diane Keaton called “5 Flights Up,” in which New York is thrown into chaos over a suspected terrorist attack. Mr. Freeman said the film does not share similarities to recent real-life events, Newsweek reported.

“That unrest [in Baltimore] has nothing to do with terrorism at all, except the terrorism we suffer from the police,” the 77-year-old star said. “And the fact that now that’s out in the open.”

Mr. Freeman referred to the case of Amadou Diallo, the 22-year-old Guinea immigrant who was shot and killed in 1999 by four New York City plainclothes officers who mistook Diallo’s wallet for a gun, Newsweek reported.

“Forty-one times he was shot. That was the beginning of our understanding of how dangerous police are,” the actor said.

“Because of the technology — everybody has a smartphone — now we can see what the police are doing,” he added. “We can show the world, Look, this is what happened in that situation. So why are so many people dying in police custody? And why are they all black? And why are all the police killing them white? What is that?

“The police have always said, ‘I feared for my safety,’” Mr. Freeman said. “Well, now we know. OK. You feared for your safety while a guy was running away from you, right?”